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<blockquote data-quote="Mike McDonald" data-source="post: 92572" data-attributes="member: 2243">Re: Ul - csaCSA is the Canadian Standards Association. UL is Underwriters Laboratories. There is a company called Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (initials ULC). All these agencies set safety standards for various equipment and test to ensure the equipment conforms to the standards. All 3 agencies are internationally recognized and respected. Different industries and different jurisdictions require certification markings of some sort for any equipment used. By bearing the certification marking of one of the mentioned agencies the manufacturer has proved that its gear conforms to certain minimum safety standards. These organizations zealously protect their mark. There are unscrupulous manufacturers who will mark their product with counterfeit approval. Like any other industry, the safety standards industry is competitive. If an industry or jurisdiction insists on some specific approval, every manufacturer interested in supplying that market will be paying the approval agency $$. As far as differences between CSA and UL, it depends on the actual standard being referenced. For portable equipment and panelboards, the differences in standards would be minimal. UL is so universally accepted that it&#039;s unlikely that a piece of equipment would bear a CSA marking and not a UL mark. To put it bluntly,&nbsp; the Canadian market is so small compared to the US market, I often think companies seek CSA approval as an afterthought. There are CSA standards that could be considered more stringent than UL standards, but I doubt that would apply to portable consumer equipment</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mike McDonald, post: 92572, member: 2243"] Re: Ul - csa CSA is the Canadian Standards Association. UL is Underwriters Laboratories. There is a company called Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (initials ULC). All these agencies set safety standards for various equipment and test to ensure the equipment conforms to the standards. All 3 agencies are internationally recognized and respected. Different industries and different jurisdictions require certification markings of some sort for any equipment used. By bearing the certification marking of one of the mentioned agencies the manufacturer has proved that its gear conforms to certain minimum safety standards. These organizations zealously protect their mark. There are unscrupulous manufacturers who will mark their product with counterfeit approval. Like any other industry, the safety standards industry is competitive. If an industry or jurisdiction insists on some specific approval, every manufacturer interested in supplying that market will be paying the approval agency $$. As far as differences between CSA and UL, it depends on the actual standard being referenced. For portable equipment and panelboards, the differences in standards would be minimal. UL is so universally accepted that it's unlikely that a piece of equipment would bear a CSA marking and not a UL mark. To put it bluntly, the Canadian market is so small compared to the US market, I often think companies seek CSA approval as an afterthought. There are CSA standards that could be considered more stringent than UL standards, but I doubt that would apply to portable consumer equipment [/QUOTE]

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